Reluctant Whitethroat ........

This guy was a very unwilling subject, skulking in the foliage albeit fairly high up and only partially showing most of the time.

This image was as good as it got on a fairly quiet outing overall.

Every now and then everything falls into place - Whitethroat

There are no guarantees when it comes to wildlife photography whether you are an enthusiastic amateur like me or a professional, no certainties of success for all sorts of reasons whether it be circumstances or ability ...... or indeed the lack of it !.

For example, you can go out to photograph Barn Owls, sometimes they appear and start hunting early, sometimes they don't.  When pursuing an objective I have experienced failure, success and all of the shades between the two.

But sometimes circumstances conspire and nature allows you to get it right.

One such time recently was when I was photographing a pair of nesting Whitethroat, without pressurising the birds I was able to get fairly close. The light was good, the birds were coming and going with frequency, the nest was situated below some teasels that they were using to shimmy up and down to the nest and finally the background allowed me to use a wide open aperture.  

All images taken with a remote shutter release on a tripod.

As I have said on many occasions, for me, perfection does not exist, but also for me these shots are close to knocking on the door !.